Bakuman. / First Impressions

「馬鹿と利口 」 (Baka to Rikou)
“Stupid and Smart”

This week, we get to see a little deeper into Moritaka’s life. His mom is a real hard-ass when it comes to things dealing with his future, just like any parent would be. Imagine going home to your parents, telling them you want to draw manga, and make a living off of it, knowing that your favorite relative died from being a mangaka and that your parents wouldn’t want you to end up with the same fate. Would you still try? Of course not! Unless your name was Mashiro Moritaka. In the Mashiro household, you only speak to your mother. Your mother then goes to your father, and then if you don’t get a response, it means you get the okay for your request. Naturally, that also means you never speak directly to your father. I’m sure some readers here will understand the feeling of your mother being totally against what you want to do, but what’s even better is when the working dad goes and says “Let him do it, men have dreams that a woman wouldn’t understand.” It really goes to show how how father and son can bond together, even with a dad who has to work all the time.

With Moritaka and Takagi, they seem to be slowly growing accustomed to each other (…actually, more like Moritaka finally opening himself up to Takagi). Why would I say this? If you look closely at Moritaka, his overall facial expression changes from a frown, to a smile! They also give each other nicknames which play off of their names, Saiko for Moritaka and Shuujin for Takagi (Shuujin meaning prisoner or criminal). We also meet a few new characters, Iwase Aiko (Fujimura Ayumi) and Miyoshi Kaya (Yahagi Sayuri) — Aiko being one of the top students in the school (right under Takagi) and Kaya who is Azuki’s best friend. Both of them didn’t have much screen time this episode, but they were important enough to get a few lines each. Takagi even uses Aiko as an example of how smart people aren’t necessarily smart.

On that note, there’s some great dialogue between Takagi and Moritaka. As Moritaka once again questions Takagi about why he would work so hard in school just become a mangaka, Takagi explains about the possibility of failing as a mangaka and describes his dedication to studying as more of a form of insurance. At the same time, he explains that being book smart isn’t the only way one can be smart. He describes Moritaka as a smart person who has more skills then just being good at drawing. Then he compares Azuki and Iwase. Azuki is very cute and pretty, yet manages to stay very low key. Not by manipulating others, but by utilizing her charm and being very straightforward. He even says she’s smarter then Iwase who only has book smarts. The real way to become smart, in the words of Takagi, is to follow your dreams and not remain a dreamer.

The only other things that really caught my eye this episode were the couple of times that Azuki glanced over at Moritaka. From when he faked being sick to struggling on a test, Azuki was constantly checking over Moritaka. I think it’s really sweet how she’s constantly worried about him. I don’t know if you could say Azuki and Moritaka are engaged, but I really like how suave she is when shows her affection for Moritaka. I also really like it when Moritaka isn’t pessimistic, but smiling like this. Makes him seem like a nicer person then he really is.

 

Preview

45 Comments

  4. Episode 2 is Much better,IMHO,I think I might not drop this series.

    Anyways,This is the Main reason why I really love watching Animes produced by the National Broadcaster,It really interacts with the viewers.

    imbestigador
    Reply

  6. “Let him do it, men have dreams that a woman wouldn’t understand.”

    I loled at the sexism there.

    Strangely that kind of reflects my family. When I scored in the top 0.2% for final High School exams, my parents were urging me to go down the “safer”, well paid career path. When I said no, my dad was the first to accept.

    Flare
    Reply

    1. That’s not really sexism. It’s not saying one is better than the other. Men have dreams Women can’t understand, but Women also have dreams Men can’t understand. That’s just how life is. Different chromosomes, you know?

      Bossun
      Reply

      1. I see your point, but you’re perfectly wrong. This is obvious, straightforward sexism. But hey, what else is there to expect from a Japanese anime? I’m a girl and I do adore anime and manga and I’m not saying ALL mangas and animes are sexist, but there are too many examples to count. You say that a girl and a guy can’t understand each other’s dreams because of gender? Now you’re being sexist yourself. To understand something is directly connected to the capacity some part of your brain – I don’t know which one – and scientific research has proven numerous times that intelligence and the capacity to understand others – EMPATHY – are perfectly equal in the average male and female. It doesn’t matter the nature of your dream, but that you have a dream! People don’t have the same dreams and that is why we relate to each other on the fact that we do all have dreams, no matter how great or how trivial they might be. Of course I can’t RELATE to a man’s dream about becoming a professional wrestler because that’s not something I’d be able to dream for myself, but I can UNDERSTAND and EMPATHIZE and even GIVE ADVICE. Because I have dreams too, and I know how it feels to chase after them. God, your comment really annoyed me. Please don’t take offence now; I’m just being honest with you: It was an outdated, irrational, narrow-minded, scientifically wrong opinion with too many weak points to count. And as aforementioned, in this context the father comment about “men have dreams women can’t understand” has a very, very prominent sexist touch to it. This entire series do, but I’ve learned from much experience to see past the flaws in things and appreciate them for where they succeed. What I can’t condone, however, is when these flaws are being flawlessly rationalized by people. It makes me very annoyed. I apologize for the poor grammar! I’m Swedish so English isn’t exactly my mother tongue.

        Felicia
        Reply

  9. Pretty solid episode. More in-depth details about Saiko’s uncle and new characters are introduced, I liked it. I’m not really sure how being a mangaka is seen in japan as a career but I guess it’s not something parents’ would like their kids jumping on without a second thought, especially since the whole “Uncle worked himself to death to try and get serialized but to no avail” issue.

    I’m not sure if Shujin’s laugh was in the manga but it sure was a heck lot of fun.

    Jaden
    Reply

  10. The first episode wasn’t appealing, but thinking of this ‘fine’ and somehow-unique story, I continued to watch episode 2; and it sure was awesome. The first episode was a little bit abstract on a lot of perspectives like his uncle, love ‘story’, etc. Clearing them up in episode 2 was a nice follow up, and I’m sure episode 1 hasn’t made the viewers fail their expectations.

    I’m going to keep on watching this show! ’cause I have no idea what will happen… no expectations, nothing at all.

    Xevar
    Reply

    1. My friends who have read the manga keep insisting that the anime is moving at a slow pace. I think it’s moving juts fine, and I’m glad the second episode captured your interest. I think Bakuman will be great :]

      Takaii
      Reply

  12. It was a very good episode!
    That Shujin scene was so funny,I really laughed out at it 🙂
    Now that Moritaka has got the keys to his uncle’s studios…hope we get to see some manga soon!

    And Takaii,your writing is very lucid!
    I liked reading it!

    Fai D Fluorite
    Reply

  14. I actually really enjoyed this episode. Seems like all the pieces are falling in place and the budding relation between Moritaka and Takagi is fun to watch. The former’s excitement when he got his uncle’s key was pretty contagious and I can’t wait to see next episode.
    Thanks for covering it, Takaii!

    Shinjiro
    Reply

  17. This will be a good series. You can tell its about more them just making a manga. It almost made me want to follow my dreams, then I realized Im out of school and Im lazy as shit. If Im reincarnated I want to come back as a anime character in a girl harem. Done.

    infinite
    Reply

  18. JC Staff seemed to have dropped a foreshadow here for manga readers.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Bluance
    Reply

  19. I’m really enjoying the friendship between Moritaka and Takagi thus far. I think Takagi’s laugh really made the episode for me, played it about 5 times lol. I appreciate the message this show tries to deliver, that you should follow your dreams but also do so with your head in tact. Personally, I’ve always wanted to collaborate with somebody else on a manga so it’d be very interesting to see their degree of success in the future.

    frice
    Reply

  20. Very cute episode. Wasn’t so fond of Takagi’s little rant, but I thought the scene with the family was great, especially the grandfather.

    I thought it was interesting saying women wouldn’t understand since many women become Mangaka, concert artists, architects, etc…

    rufe
    Reply

  23. Quality isn’t the best ’cause of the budget, but the story makes up for it. Between watching the first episode and this, I read 104 chapters of the manga (aka all of it that’s been published). I’m not sure how they’ll pull of the rest of it, and it does seem to concentrate a bit much on the romance (even if the manga was like that in the beginning), but it has promise. So yay for Bakuman!

    Niakura
    Reply

  27. Loved Takagi’s laugh. I keept replaying it. XD This anime is one of my favourites so far despite the low animation quality. Actually, visually, it kind of reminds me of Nabari no Ou.

    By the way, is there any basis for Takagi calling Moritaka “Saiko”? Besides its meaning?

    Yuumei
    Reply

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